James Harden: 'This is the year' for Houston Rockets

Being in the midst of a 13-game win streak and holding the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA standings has made life grand for the Houston Rockets of late. To star guard and Kia MVP contender James Harden, this is the best things have ever been for him in Houston.

Superstar guard and MVP front-runner James Harden says he believes the 2017-18 season is "the year" for the Houston Rockets.

"This is the year. For sure," Harden told ESPN on Tuesday in an exclusive interview when asked what his expectations for the Rockets are this season.

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When asked how the Rockets, who are in the midst of a 13-game win streak and have the best record in the NBA at 47-13 (a half-game ahead of the Golden State Warriors), are coming together post-All-Star break, Harden couldn't help but gush about how great the season has been and how this team is probably the best one on which he has ever played.

"The front office -- [general manager] Daryl Morey and [CEO] Tad Brown -- those guys did an unbelievable job," Harden said. "From last year, bringing [Eric Gordon] and [Ryan Anderson] over. Then obviously adding [Chris Paul] and [PJ Tucker] and [Luc Mbah a Moute] and then you get [Gerald Green] and Joe Johnson.

"This is probably the best team I've ever been a part of, from top to bottom. The chemistry that we have, included with the coaching staff -- I mean, we're having a lot of fun."

Houston visits the LA Clippers tonight and Harden says he is anticipating a playoff-like atmosphere given the Rockets' neck-and-neck battle with the Warriors for No. 1 in the West. The Rockets have a 1/2 game lead over the Warriors for that spot.

"So it's going to be a playoff atmosphere in there," Harden said. "You can expect every game from here on out to be a playoff atmosphere. That's what we need. Nothing changes for us. We need to go out there and execute and just try to keep our streak alive."